Just a Girl
by MaryBear
Summary: Set during the Emperor arc. A young slave with an interesting anomaly.
1. Epilogue

Hey y'all! This was originally my first Digimon fanfic, only now it's re-written and (hopefully) better. Please note that I have only ever really watched season 2 of Digimon so it's pretty much in that mindset. Therefore if it's slight AU…blame it on that. ." I also use English names and references, since I haven't read that much into the Japanese names, etc. :- Enjoy.

"**Just a Girl"**

Prologue

It was dark out.

Unnaturally dark, actually, even for the digital world. Clouds hid the moon and stars behind a curtain of midnight. How fitting that the weather should mirror the horrible reverberations this night and the days and weeks following it would bring.

The woman led the way down the shadowed path, her white hair shining like a beacon that the man with her followed faithfully. Once upon a time his obvious devotion would have heartened the lady, now it simply riled her.

How foolish she was to have believed herself capable of love. _He_ had shown her that particular feeling was not suited for the likes of them.

It was one more reason she despised him.

They walked like that, in silence, for countless minutes. She, carefully cradling the precious bundle in her arms, and he, too weighted by a heavy heart to do much but follow.

When they arrived at Primary Village, it was both a welcome and unwelcome sight. At the gates, she hesitated only a fraction before striding purposefully between the rows of slumbering digimon in their bassinets, finally reaching an empty one near the edge.

She held her daughter close before setting her in the small bed, fighting back the inevitable tears. Then she straightened, glancing at her companion through this long journey as he, too, said his good-byes to his first and only heir.

"We'll see her again." His tone was a mixture of anguish and hope.

"We won't remember her, you know that." They were hard, bitter words laced with malice, and he had no doubt as to whom the hatred was intended. Tactfully he chose no say nothing in reply.

When it was obvious their brief conversation had ended, the lady took a chain out of her pocket and placed the charm gently next to the slumbering girl. The child stirred but didn't wake.

"Come, we should get going before he figures out what we have done." And she wheeled away, barely giving him time to have a final look upon his daughter before following once more.

It was only after they had put some distance between themselves and Primary Village that she spoke again, "Perhaps it's best we won't remember her."

"What?" He wasn't quite sure that he had heard her right.

"This way she won't interfere with our purpose, and we won't be hindered by memories of feelings we thought we shared that don't exist."

He stiffened, "Don't exist? Exactly what are you saying?"

The silence was long and very nearly unbearable. Yet the words that came after that gap could kill.

"…I don't love you."

Behind them, in every sense, was a young girl unaware yet to her new surroundings. Behind them, was a daughter who would never know a mother or father. Behind them was a child that would grow to fulfill a destiny.

Behind them was their 'non-existing' love.

As the baby slept on, the small gem beside her gleamed in the inky night, a light seemingly trying desperately to ward off the evils and pains in this sleeping child's future. A simple stone, encased in a gold band, across which letters were etched into the metal. A single name, symbolizing all this girl would stand for.

"Nozomi"


	2. The Beginng of The End

Whoo! Chapter one! (Aren't you all excited? .) I really need to work on longer chapters. But me and describing things aren't exactly on good terms.

"**Just A Girl**"

Chapter 1

Years had passed since that night. A war was fought, and the chosen children had prevailed. Now the digital world was enjoying a time of feigned peace, living in the brief calm between to great conflicts.

It was a time of renewal, and no sight encompassed this more than that of two young creatures frolicking in their newfound freedom. A young girl and her best friend, a rather pink creature resembling a very small horse: Ponymon.

The two had wandered from Elecmon's overprotective radar to a far more secluded (and dangerous) 'playground.' The large grassy expanse covered the landscape for acres, ending in a dark forest neither one was brave enough to enter, let alone go near.

The sounds of giggles and joyous shouts rang from the apparently abandoned meadow, the rustling of tall weeds and the occasional peek of a white head poking out of the grass the only other clue that two small _somethings_ were at mischief there.

"Ponymon! PONYMON!" The young girl, barely eight or nine by the looks of her, called half-exasperated, half-amused. She could only see over the tall (to her) foliage by jumping above the tops of the stalks, and pursuit in this manner was next to impossible. "C'mon, you know this isn't fair!"

"But Nozomi, it's not **my** fault I have four legs and you don't." The singsong taunt came from behind Nozomi, causing her to yelp and spin at the unexpected appearance of her digimon friend.

At that age, gracefulness isn't something young girls really have, and this particular one was no difference. Therefore it was hardly a surprise when she toppled to the ground with an undignified "urf."

Ponymon, while greatly amused, wasn't also one to 'kick someone while they're down' so to speak, and so helped the girl to her feet as best she could.

Trying desperately to regain some dignity, Nozomi began pulling sticks and clumps of dirt out of her not-so-white-anymore hair. "Thanks." She mumbled. Ponymon grinned.

"No problem. We should probably head back anyway, no doubt Elecmon's gone into a nervous meltdown by now."

Nozomi narrowed her sea-green eyes and tried her best to contain a chuckle. "I thought he was like that when we _are_ around."

The pink digimon laughed. "You're right. I guess this is the lesser of two evils."

………………………….

The funeral service lasted most of the afternoon, passing by in a blur of black and rain and consoling from others. Yet long as it was, Ken Ichijouji was only aware of one thing.

Sam was gone.

His brother. His best friend, and it was all his fault. The young boy closed his eyes against the painful memory, but still it surfaced inside his guilty conscience.

"…_I wish Sam would just disappear!"_

I didn't mean it, really. I didn't want you to go away, Sam. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Ken, so wrapped up in guilt, hardly noticed they were leaving until his father ushered him and his weeping mother into the car. The drive was remotely silent, the still mourning broken only by his mother's sobs she tried unsuccessfully to muffle.

All too soon, they arrived back at their apartment building. Ken looked up at the tall complex, so cold and uninviting now that it's light was gone. Now that _their_ light was gone.

"Oh," his mother moaned, "I can't stay here. I can't." She turned and cried fresh tears into her husband's shoulder, who himself seemed on the brink of breaking down. Ken had to admire his father's strength.

Holding his wife close, Mr. Ichijouji took a deep breath. "We'll move, love. I promise. But we have to go in at least once to pack." Yet even as he finished his sentence, she recoiled.

"NO! I can't!" She was on the verge of hysteria. "I can't."

And so they moved, Ken never saw his mother reenter her former home once more. She stayed in a hotel alone that night, and the next few Ken and his father joined her until they found another apartment.

Ken had his own room now, and the once-bunk bed was turned into a loft. All of Sam's belongings were put into storage except his computer, which stayed in Ken's new room.

Ken spent all his time in his room on it, playing games and visiting websites. And it was through this software that the boy received an email, and his second trip to the digital world.

………………………….

"YOU TWO ARE GROUNDED!"

Elecmon was ranting again. Nozomi tried her best not to roll her eyes in Ponymon's direction. This wasn't the first time the girls had been grounded. In fact, if someone had actually been able to keep count, it would be their 537th time.

The protective digimon had swooped down on them just as they returned from their play date and, after a very long and angry tirade about how dangerous it was outside the grounds even with the dark masters gone, had finally gotten around to their punishment.

"You are not to leave Primary Village for one week!"

Nozomi could have laughed. He'd tried this tactic before, and Ponymon and herself had drove him so batty being cooped up that he'd had to shorten their sentence. To one day.

"And I don't want to hear any whining, either!"

Ponymon shot Nozomi an incredulous look. She sure as heck wasn't about to argue with this lenient punishment. Nozomi grinned.

"STOP SMILING! Now where was I…"

Ponymon could hardly bite back a laugh, while her compadre had given up the fight entirely, and was now rolling about on the ground giggling like a hyena.

"Oh so you think it's FUNNY do you? Fine then, you are both also responsible for changing each and every one of these baby digimon's diapers!" And with that, he strode away looking rather haughty.

That wiped the humor off the two's faces in a hurry. With a groan, Ponymon turned to Nozomi.

"I think he's even angrier this time than when we dyed his fur blue."

Nozomi snickered, her good mood never diminished for long.

"No that was you, remember? I was sick and you did it to cheer me up."

"Oh…But I remember both of us getting punished."

The girl shot her friend a wide grin.

"That's because we did."

"But I thought you said I did it."

"You did, but I helped you shave him."

A long pause, and then…

"What?"

"He was complaining about how the color would never grow out."

"Oh." Ponymon laughed. "Right."

………………………….

Nearby, a young boy held a glowing digivice in his hand.

Kneeling in the water, a sadistic smirk upon his face, Ken Ichijouji uttered the first words of a tyrant that would change an entire world forever.

"_This is mine now!" _

Gah. Yay! I got the first chapter done! Enjoy!


	3. Intrigue

Alrighty! Chapter 2. Things will pick up, I promise. I just want to get through all this to cut to the good parts. (Bad Mary. Bad.)

"**Just A Girl"**

Chapter 2

"Nozomi's in a bad moooooooood!"

The young girl rolled her eyes and continued to work, seemingly paying no attention to the annoying digimon standing behind her.

"C'mon, 'zomi. You can talk to us. What happened?"

A different voice this time. _Ignorant jerks_. The girl thought moodily, pulling up a turnip with more force than really was necessary.

"Oooh. Looks like we struck a nerve."

"Yea. What happened 'zomi, your boyfriend break up with you?"

Angry as she was, Nozomi had to laugh at that one. Boyfriend? She'd never had one, let alone, for that matter, wanted one. No, she was upset for different reasons.

"Sorry, guys, I guess I wasn't listening. Did you say something?" Her smile, while obviously fake, held a certain…evilness about it.

The two digimon began to back away slowly. Never, **never**, had that look on Nozomi's face brought with it anything good. In fact, the last time that smile had graced this young girl's features (a mere two days previously) it had resulted in her working all day in the garden by herself, as well as the reason she was in such a sour mood.

The small spitfire watched the two digimon retreat with nonchalance, vaguely amused by all the dust they kicked up in their hasty exit. Awarding herself a moment of victory, Nozomi leaned back on her haunches, taking a break from her work to gaze at the western landscape. Her eyebrows knitted together at the sight before her.

Normally, Nozomi would have loved to watch the sun set beyond the rolling hills outside Primary Village, but for the past few weeks the visage made her insides churn. The once-brilliant and vibrant hues were now marred by an ugliness that chilled the young girl on the inside. A tall black tower, barely visible, dotted the horizon. It emanated malice from it's every fiber, and from the moment the thing had been erected on some far-off hilltop, Nozomi knew what it was.

A control spire.

One of the 'Digimon Emperor's' tools to enslave helpless digimon, capturing the poor creatures and bending them to his will. Already Primary Village had overflowed from the death toll, and more eggs appeared each day. Nozomi had heard tales of the experiments and tests the young tyrant had performed on his unwilling captives, and her hatred for this self-proclaimed Emperor grew more every day she bore witness to his cruelty.

The reborn charges in her care still held enormous chips on their shoulders (and who could blame them) from the horrors they had both seen and been submitted to. While their outer scars had healed, Nozomi doubted that many of them would be able to get over the emotional damage that had been done.

Nozomi had once stumbled upon a dying slave, left to suffer under the burning sun. The small digimon's state alone was enough to turn the strong girl to tears, but the story he told her of how he came to be that way was so much worse.

She had sat with him until the next morning, knowing all that night he would die any moment, for his wounds were far to severe to survive. He had told her of how the Digimon Emperor had captured him from his home, and forced him to perform useless and dangerous labor. He shared with Nozomi the long diagonal lashes on his back, a momento from the whip his unfeeling 'master' wielded.

He was silent for a long moment, and then he died. Nozomi watched as the creature dissolved into data in her arms, and never before had she felt so alone.

'_I won't die like that.' _She thought, scared. _'I won't come back. I'm not a digimon. I'll never see Elecmon or Ponymon again.' _

A new wave of fear washed over her. The emperor had already struck so close, what was to stop him from destroying Primary Village? What was to stop him from destroying her?

The girl left the area at breakneck speed that night, afraid of what would await her at home.

With a sigh, Nozomi realized that she had been brooding long enough for the sun to completely set, and gathering up her things, left the garden for Primary Village.

………………………….

He liked the dark.

Not for some sadistic, emotional-scarring, 'I wasn't hugged enough in my childhood' kind of reason (even if that was a fact). Ken just thought that darkness was the most suitable kind of element for a creature to work in. No unnecessary lights to glare at you. No distractions.

The many computer screens before the young emperor bathed the boy in a harsh light. Although different sizes, each view projected the same subject: a young girl with incredibly white hair and aqua eyes. Nozomi. The tyrant had been studying this figure for quite some time, unsure what to make of this new interference.

She obviously wasn't a Digi Destined, that he had concluded some time ago, but then how did a seemingly normal girl find herself in the digital world? He'd found the answer to this intrigue, too.

She wasn't a 'girl' at all.

At least, not in the sense that she was human. Ken had managed to acquire a small strand of Nozomi's hair, which now took it's place on the screen directly in front of him. It's DNA code and digital readout constantly moving on either side of the picture. It seemed that she was a digimon. With slight human DNA.

He pounded a fist down in frustration on his chair. That was impossible. No such thing could happen. She must be some sort of anomaly in the system, a bug.

A virus.

At this thought, a cold smirk crossed the emperor's face. Virus' were not acceptable in _his_ world. She would have to be terminated.

And so the young tyrant began making his plans, scouting out his slaves and controlled territories along the boarders of Primary Village. This 'Nozomi' was not normal, or at least, as normal as one could get in the digital world.

And for that she would have to be punished.

………………………….

Gah, I know it's short. Forgive meh. -.- The next chapter is one of my favorite so I want to make it perfect:D

And you guys are so sweet with your reviews. ;) Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. (hugs reviewers mercilessly)


End file.
